LONG BEACH – The Long Beach State softball team will make another trek into San Diego this weekend, this time for the three-day University of San Diego Tournament.

The 49ers (4-5) won two of the five games they played at San Diego State last weekend during the Campbell/Cartier Classic.

Coach Kim Sowder’s club opens play at the USD tournament this afternoon with a game against Colorado State at noon followed by a 2 p.m. clash with Boise State.

They play each of those teams again Saturday and then wrap things up against the USD Toreros on Sunday.

Junior catcher Kristen Pocock was selected the Big West Conference’s co-Field Player of the Week Monday after collecting three hits, seven walks and four runs batted in at SDSU over the weekend.

“Both of our catchers have done outstanding jobs for us,” Sowder said Wednesday of Pocock and fellow junior Brandi Reyes, who are hitting .353 and .304, respectively.

As a team, the 49ers have a .296 average with 20 extra-base hits.

But the pitching staff – expected to be one of the most effective in the region this season – has a collective earned run average of 5.79 with opponents hitting .321.

“Our staff is coming along a little slower than we expected,” Sowder said. “But we certainly know what it is capable of. We’re working on making a few adjustments, especially in big pitch situations. But we’ve played against some teams – Stanford, Washington and Georgia – that have three of the most powerful lineups in the country.”

Tennis

Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello’s Long Beach State tennis team is back in action this afternoon when the 49ers host Cal State Northridge in a Big West Conference dual match in the Rhodes Tennis Center.

The 49ers improved to 2-3 a week ago today when they knocked off host San Diego State, 4-2.

Senior Hannah Grady, a three-time Big West Player of the Year, was selected the conference’s Player of the Week after beating SDSU No. 93 Julia Trunk to open singles’ play with the Aztecs.

The Matadors are 2-5.

Saturday morning, the 49ers will travel north on the 605, east on the 91 and north on State College Boulevard to face host Cal State Fullerton in another Big West dual match.

They play another couple of matches at home next week when they face UC Riverside (in conference competition) and Saint Mary’s (in non-conference competition).

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.